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<title>JDC Yumekaze – The Wind Carrying our Dreams by AozoraAoumi</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28254441">JDC Yumekaze – The Wind Carrying our Dreams</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AozoraAoumi/pseuds/AozoraAoumi'>AozoraAoumi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>BEYOOOOONDS (Band), Hello! Project, Juice Juice (Band), こぶしファクトリー | Kobushi Factory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Original, Conflict, Gen, It may get very technical and complex, Lots of OCs - Freeform, My First Fanfic, Science Fiction, War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:21:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28254441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AozoraAoumi/pseuds/AozoraAoumi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the 23rd century, the cold war between Earth and Mars has finally reached a breaking point. As war finally breaks out in the Solar System, the crew of the Japan Space Self-Defence Force carrier JDC <i>Yumekaze</i> have to to do their duty to protect their home, and each other.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue - Goodbye, Kobushi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All characters involved are aged up as required.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Near the L2 Lagrange point, beyond the Moon<br/>
JDC-021 <em>Kobushi</em></strong>
</p><p>"<em>…today, Martian Federation leader Jorhann </em><em>S</em><em>utler again condemned the UN+ for withholding shipments of water to the planet. The Martian Federation is under economic sanctions from the UN+ states in a standoff that has been going on for 45 days, prompted by the off-world state's blockade of the Titan colonies. In a statement to the General Assembly, UN+ Secretary-General Duong Tra My said…</em>"</p><p>The radio seemed to merge into nothing but background noise after a while. Tapping her finger habitually against the reinforced plastic of her workstation, Lieutenant Inoue Rei stared at her console's screen in utter boredom. The line circled endlessly around the space radar display again and again, never detecting anything new. She alternated between staring at the screen and staring out into space via the bridge's panoramic video screens, providing a spectacular view of the JDC <em>Kobushi</em>'s bow and the endless starfield beyond. Without the Earth's atmosphere to distort the starlight, the view was breathtaking.</p><p>At least it should have been. After weeks of the exact same scene, the Milky Way was getting excruciatingly boring, being the only thing to see when one looked out of a window. The JDC <em>Kobushi</em> had been on long-range patrol for over a month, one of the longest space patrols in recent memory, due to the ongoing heightened tensions between Earth and Mars. It was very different from being on a ship on the ocean, where one could still breathe the air and feel the breeze of Mother Earth. Here, opening a window would be an immediate death sentence. Thus was the reality of space travel. Breathing the same strangely odourless sterilised air for weeks on end was enough to drive anyone crazy.</p><p>Modern psychologists recommended an upper limit of five weeks for long-range space travel, for the mental health of their crewmembers. <em>Kobushi</em> was rapidly approaching that limit, but there was little choice. The nations of Earth had paid a very high price for their victory in the Lunar War, and most space forces had been severely depleted. Even with all of its member states' forces combined, the modern UN+ still had just barely half of what Mars had, though of course the Earth ships were built to a higher standard. It was a very precarious situation, especially since Mars appeared to be making aggressive moves for dominance of the solar system yet again.</p><p>"Ugh, don't they have any good music on this channel?" Lieutenant Nomura Minami groaned from the communications station as the radio began playing an overrated eBanjo-heavy song from the late 2190s.</p><p>"It's a moon channel, so no," Rei leaned back casually in her seat. She glanced at the clock. Fifteen more minutes to the end of their watch shift, then she'd be free to sleep for another… Six hours!</p><p>Rei's eyes were drawn back to the main screens, the location of the cameras atop the vessel's superstructure giving a false impression of the view from a traditional ship's bridge. Like most modern space warships, the <em>Kobushi</em>'s command bridge was actually buried deep within the vessel's superstructure for protection. The visible part of the warship grey bow of the <em>Kobushi</em> was a two-pronged wedge shape adorned with two turrets with high-velocity cannons and the characteristic grid shape of missile cells. Three smaller close-in weapons systems (CIWS) were spread out neatly across the bow on their little pedestals, their white radar domes the only contrast against the otherwise entirely grey and black vessel.</p><p>It was kind of strange. Just five years ago, Rei was just about to abandon her dream of ever being up in space. And now here she was, a proud officer of the Japan Space Self-Defence Force, bored out of her mind on the bridge of the JDC <em>Kobushi</em>, wishing she was back home with solid dirt under her feet, not cold steel. Being so far from home, alone in the middle of space, inevitably heightened the sense of homesickness.</p><p>But <em>Kobushi</em> was not alone out here. A few hundred metres to the front and above was the Russian missile cruiser RFC <em>Vladivostok</em>, a long rectangular shape twice as large as the <em>Kobushi</em> with angular superstructures jutting out of the top and bottom. Like the <em>Kobushi</em>, he was a pre-Lunar War warship, but the <em>Vladivostok</em> was much older, having been in service for over forty years. He was still considered one of the largest and most powerful warships on the Earth's side.</p><p>For a moment, Rei wondered if her Russian counterparts were also as bored as she was. The two-ship patrol had been cruising together for the better part of the last two weeks, after several Martian scout ships were reported in the area, but the crews had had little chance to interact.</p><p>"Hey, Reirei," Minami spoke up, resting her chin on her palm as she stared at the communications suite, "do you think it'll actually happen?"</p><p>"What would happen?" Rei asked. Minami was actually her senior back at the Tokyo Space Warfare Academy, but they had become close after they were assigned to the <em>Kobushi</em>.</p><p>"Well, war with Mars, of course," the slightly older girl turned to look at Rei, "now that we've stopped the water shipments, shouldn't they get the message?"</p><p>"I think it'll just make them angrier," Rei folded her arms, the material of the protective space suit they wore on duty crumpling audibly, "those hundred million Dusters aren't just going to give up."</p><p>"Yeah," Minami sighed, leaning back in her chair.</p><p>The clock ticked down slowly. Twelve more minutes. In the distance, the <em>Vladivostok</em>'s running lights blinked red across the hull, his subway train-sized anti-ship missile tubes clearly displayed on both its top and bottom sides. The Russian design philosophy was so different from the Japanese one, with a clear preference for function over form. The ship's name was painted along the side of the ship in Cyrillic characters, lit up by spotlights, barely legible from this distance.</p><p>"Hey Mina," Rei asked idly, "have you ever thought about learning another langua-"</p><p>Suddenly, a tinny alarm sounded from Rei's panel, an indicator on her screen flashing. She instinctively jerked into position, reading the data that was coming through. At the very edge of the space radar's screen, a large indicator had suddenly appeared, joining the two blue arrows that denoted the <em>Kobushi</em> and <em>Vladivostok</em>. There was something unknown out there. Her heart began to race as adrenaline entered her bloodstream.</p><p>The computer was still trying to identify the new arrival when the doors to the bridge opened. Lieutenant-Commander Hirose Ayaka, executive officer (XO) and second-in command of the <em>Kobushi</em>, surged into the room, still doing up the Velcro straps on the arms of her space suit. They wore the suits in case a hull breach occurred during battle, to protect them from the vacuum of space.</p><p>"Duty officer on deck," Minami sounded off, stood and saluted with a smile.</p><p>Ayaka replied her with a casual half-salute as she rushed over to Rei's station. With every watch duty there was one senior officer on duty as well to oversee the team. It was probably a coincidence that Ayaka always ended up on duty with her closest friends, and was probably unrelated to the fact that she was the one in charge of planning the duty roster.</p><p>"What happened?"</p><p>"We've got an unknown contact about 800,000 metres away," Rei reported, maintaining her curt professionalism, since they were on the bridge now.</p><p>Though Ayaka was now Rei's superior officer, the two of them went way back, beyond the Academy where most of the other officers first met. They had befriended each other during the Japan Youth Spaceflight Project before it was terminated due to the outbreak of the Lunar War.</p><p>"Can you identify it?" Ayaka asked, looking concerned as she slapped the last Velcro into place.</p><p>"Already on it," Rei tapped at the screen, willing the computer to work faster.</p><p>With a loud beep, the computer identified the target, highlighting it in a green box. It was exactly what both of them did not want to see. A Martian <em>Hellas</em>-class destroyer, one of their mid-tier warships, was lurking around just inside of their weapons range.</p><p>"What are you doing out there…?" Ayaka posed the rhetorical question to the little triangle at the edge of Rei's screen. Five seconds passed.</p><p>Just as suddenly as the earlier alarm, a second alarm began to sound, even more urgent than the first, as the screen lit up in red icons. Both of their eyes widened at the same time.</p><p>"Vampire, vampire, vampire, fifteen missiles detected inbound at bearing 2489 by negative 655!" Rei called out by well-drilled instinct. Ayaka was already dashing to the rear of the chamber, where she pulled down the red lever that sounded the alarm throughout the vessel.</p><p>"General quarters, general quarters. All hands to battle stations, incoming hostile missiles," Ayaka urgently repeated twice into the intercom system.</p><p>Across the ship, everyone would drop everything they were doing and rush to wherever they were required, regardless of what they were doing at the time. If they were not already in their combat space suits, they would suit up within fifteen seconds. Rei and Minami pulled their helmets from beneath their seats and put them on. The metallic taste of the oxygen feed took some getting used to.</p><p>The doors to the bridge burst open, and the <em>Kobushi</em>'s captain, Commander Maeyamada, entered at a brisk pace, wearing only the lower half of his space suit. Visibly irritated, his hair was entirely wet and his hastily pulled-on uniform was soaked through, the alarm probably caught him in the shower. Ayaka took up the weapons control station since Lieutenant Hamaura had not yet arrived.</p><p>"Captain on deck!" Minami sounded off.</p><p>"Prepare for counter-missile fire," Maeyamada ordered, pulling on the space suit over his body with disregard for his own dampness as he came behind Rei's station, "how many are there?"</p><p>"Fifteen missiles, captain," Rei already had the missiles highlighted on her screen.</p><p>"Counter-missiles are ready!" Ayaka reported, "I have a lock."</p><p>"Fire!" Maeyamada pointed one finger at Ayaka, then at Minami, "Minami, have we informed the <em>Vladivostok</em>?"</p><p>On the foredeck of the <em>Kobushi</em>, five missile cells slid open. Packed four to a cell, one by one the guided missiles - designed to shoot down enemy fighters and missiles - rocketed away, arcing on computer-controlled paths in the direction of the enemy missiles.</p><p>"Yes sir, <em>Vladivostok</em> has been informed. I've been trying to contact HQ, but I can't get through," Minami responded frantically as Maeyamada sealed his helmet.</p><p>The doors opened and Lieutenants Hamaura Ayano and Wada Sakurako entered hastily. Ayano patted Ayaka on the back and took her seat at the weapons station, while Sakurako relieved Minami at the signals station. After they briefly explained the situation and what had been done, Minami moved over to her usual spot at the ship's helm. Ayaka relocated herself to the tactical map table in the middle of the room.</p><p>"Wada, keep trying to get HQ; try boosting the signal," Ayaka advised, addressing her friend formally.</p><p>"Hamaura, give me an update on those missiles," Maeyamada used a stylus to plot out the path of the ship on the computerised table, aggressively sliding the tool across the reinforced glass.</p><p>"Splash nine, six in the zone in five seconds," Ayano reported coolly, "preparing CIWS."</p><p>The close-in weapons systems of the <em>Kobushi</em> were very similar to those of the aquatic warships of the 21<sup>st</sup> century, consisting of computer-controlled 30mm rotary cannons that protected the ship by literally shooting down enemy missiles. This would be the last chance to stop the inevitable few missiles that were not shot down, and had entered the so-called 'absolute defence zone'.</p><p>On the main screen, the small guns on the <em>Kobushi</em>'s foredeck could be seen moving automatically, acquiring the incoming missiles as targets with modern, AI-assisted software. Moving ahead of <em>Kobushi</em>, the <em>Vladivostok</em>'s guns began firing first, ribbons of bullets arcing through space at the missiles, still too small and too far to be seen with the human eye. Three seconds later, the <em>Kobushi</em>'s cannons also began to fire, joining the soundless light display.</p><p>"Splash three… Four," Ayano reported methodically, squinting at her own screen, "five…"</p><p>The Martian anti-ship missiles were designed to speed up tremendously when they came within a certain distance of enemy vessels, in order to avoid being shot down. On the screen, a brief speck of light signalled the booster rockets on the final Martian missile firing, the weapon arcing towards the Russian warship despite his attempts to shoot it down.</p><p>Luckily, <em>Vladivostok</em> was not sailing alone. Just under a kilometre away from the old ship, the missile exploded under a hail of Japanese bullets.</p><p>"Splash six, all missiles destroyed," Ayano reported with relief in her voice.</p><p>"Sir, <em>Vladivostok</em> is contacting us," Wada quietly reported. Maeyamada nodded at her and gestured for her to put them through.</p><p>On the main screen, a window appeared showing the <em>Vladivostok</em>'s bridge. The design was very different from the <em>Kobushi</em>'s, with crewmembers sitting in rows rather than at stations along the walls. The equipment also generally looked older and well-used, everything coloured in that generic light green colour, compared to the glowing computers and modern grey and black of the Japanese ships' interior.</p><p>The <em>Vladivostok</em>'s captain, <em>Kapitan</em> Petrov, came into view from off-camera, fully suited in the typical brown and blue Russian combat space suit. He was a stocky-looking man with an intense stare, his hair streaked with grey. Rei and the rest were well acquainted with him, as he had already come aboard to discuss the patrol route with Maeyamada several times.</p><p>"This is <em>Vladivostok</em>, thank you for the save," Petrov thanked the Japanese crew in a thick Russian accent, "we have achieved target lock on Martian destroyer. Engaging. Cтрелять."</p><p>Rei glanced at the main screens and winced as three bright flashes came from the <em>Vladivostok</em>'s large missile containers. Each of the infamous Russian anti-ship missiles was the size of a subway train car and could easily destroy that small Martian destroyer with a single hit.</p><p>As the Russian missiles arced away into the distance, their blue-burning engines merging into the starfield and becoming invisible to the naked eye, Rei found the time to catch her breath. She suddenly realised her hands were shaking, and she gripped onto the armrests of her chair to stop them. A strange calmness suddenly came over the bridge, as the flurry of activity suddenly dropped off instantaneously.</p><p>"So… Did we just start a war?" Ayano casually asked out loud, turning back in her chair.</p><p>"They fired on us first," Ayaka replied resolutely, "we're only acting in self-defence."</p><p>"It's begun, then?" Minami asked, voice trembling slightly.</p><p>"The Dusters don't know what's coming for them," Maeyamada nodded inside his helmet as he pored over the computerised table, smiling to the room, "with you guys in here, we've practically won already."</p><p>"Aww, captain," Ayano laughed, turning back to her station as Ayaka also began laughing.</p><p>Rei also found herself laughing along with her crewmates, her friends. The endless training and drills could never have prepared her for what had just happened… And what was to come, if this really was <em>it.</em> At least they all had each other.</p><p>"Sir, I still can't get HQ," Wada suddenly spoke up, concerned, "I can't get any of the Moon bases, or even the space stations at L2…"</p><p>"<em>Vladivostok</em> to Japanese warship," <em>Kapitan</em> Petrov reappeared on the screen abruptly, smiling with a tinge of melancholy, "I report one target destroyed. Sadly, I believe we are now once again at war."</p><p>Both Maeyamada and Petrov were veterans of the Lunar War, of course. Maeyamada did not like to talk about it, but in the short times Petrov came aboard he would always regale the bridge crew with some tale of his command of the RFC <em>Volgograd</em> during the war. It was perhaps strange that Rei and the rest knew more about what this random Russian captain did during the war than their own captain.</p><p>"<em>Vladivostok</em>, do you have any problems with communications?" Maeyamada asked pressingly, "we have been unable to contact Earth, the Moon, or even the L2 colonies."</p><p>As the two captains discussed the situation, Rei stared at her console. Something was giving her a weird feeling about a particular spot on the screen, not far off from where the Martian destroyer had once been. Interference was not out of the ordinary, due to radiation waves and solar flares, but there was something very strange about this particular signal.</p><p>"We have also been unable to contact RFC <em>Murmansk</em>, patrolling in the next sector," the Russian captain folded his arms, "something is not right."</p><p>That's it! There was no signal. It was as though the background radiation was being blocked by something, and the scanners' signals were being absorbed…</p><p>"Communications seem to be fine between our ships, so it must be some kind of long-range jamming," Ayaka commented, pressing her hands against the tactical table, "but we're all alone out here now."</p><p>"I don't think so, ma'am," Rei spoke up, pointing at her screen. Ayaka and Maeyamada both moved over to her station.</p><p>"There's some kind of interference right at this point," Rei explained, pointing out the area of static, "almost as if something is blocking the background radiation. But the sensors can't detect anything."</p><p>"A stealth vessel?" Maeyamada frowned, placing one hand on the backrest of Rei's seat.</p><p>Stealth technology was something that both Earth and Mars pursued relentlessly. However, thus far it had only been applied to smaller vessels like fighters and shuttles, and not entire warships. If true, the implications of this discovery were immense. There also had to be some reason that the ship was lurking out there while its more conventional cousin had been left to take the Earth ships' fire.</p><p>"Whatever it's doing, I don't like it," Maeyamada said with finality, "Hamaura, prepare an anti-ship missile, manual track. Inoue, give her the coordinates."</p><p>Shortly after, two missile cells opened up on the <em>Kobushi</em>'s foredeck, and a pair of long-range anti-ship missiles were released with forceful blasts. While smaller and less powerful than the Russian monstrosities, the Japanese missiles were far more accurate and capable of evasive manoeuvres. Again a strange calm befell the bridge as the missiles rocketed beyond the capabilities of human eyesight, though it was far more tense this time. Rei kept her eyes glued to the screen, watching that phantom spot of nothingness.</p><p>Maeyamada abruptly gripped Rei's backrest, his fingers digging into the foam material as he aggressively pointed at the screen with his other hand. She had only blinked, and the tiny evidence the stealth ship had ever been there suddenly disappeared.</p><p>"It's gone. We've lost the signal," Maeyamada cursed, releasing his grip.</p><p>Just as his words left his mouth, a dozen alarms suddenly went off throughout the bridge, the deafening cacophony of sirens competing with each other to draw the crewmembers' attention to several items at once. The main screens became blanketed with dozens of alerts and warnings, bathing the chamber's occupants in dramatic crimson. On Rei's screen, numerous alert boxes also opened up, prompting Ayaka to lean in closer.</p><p>"We've got almost a dozen jump signatures," Ayaka pulled away from the computer and turned back to the computer table in the middle of the room, "I'm sorry to say, but we've been ambushed."</p><p>Rei took a deep breath. It really was happening.</p><p>"Что, черт возьми, происходит?" <em>Kapitan</em> Petrov reappeared on the main screen, "Japanese ship, are you reading these jump signatures?"</p><p>The Russian command bridge was clearly in a similar state of panic, with crewmembers visibly moving around frantically behind Petrov. Ayaka began plotting something on the computer tabletop.</p><p>"We've seen them, prepare for ship-to-ship combat," Maeyamada pointed at Ayano, "Hamaura, have the gunnery crews prepare for close-range combat."</p><p>"Roger, captain," Ayano replied promptly, bringing up her intercom system to the gun control teams in charge of the turrets. Housed elsewhere in the ship, those crews were in charge of the ship's main close-range weaponry. At the extremely close range these Martian ships were jumping in at, there would be no time to bother with missiles.</p><p>The main screens suddenly experienced dazzling bursts of light similar in appearance to lens flares, bright enough to make the crew wince from the sudden flashes. Electromagnetic waves surged over the <em>Kobushi</em> momentarily, causing the main screens to flicker for about two seconds. When the image came back clearly, Minami almost jumped out of her seat.</p><p>Part of the JSSDF's training involved learning to identify the potential enemy's vessels, giving all of the Japanese bridge crew enough knowledge to know the sheer danger they were in at that exact moment. Arrayed just around three kilometres out were eight Martian <em>Hellas</em>-class destroyers, the boxy brown shapes clearly visible against the starfield. Even worse, they were accompanied by three <em>Tharsis</em>-class cruisers, each almost the size of the <em>Vladivostok</em>. And these ships were definitely not forty years old.</p><p>"<em>Vladivostok</em> to Japanese ship," Petrov grimaced on the screen, "we are engaging."</p><p>"<em>Kobushi </em>is engaging. Good hunting," Maeyamada saluted Petrov, "Hamaura, fire control is yours."</p><p>The first ship to open fire was one of the <em>Tharsis</em> cruisers, a storm of rockets emerging from its ventral launchers against the <em>Vladivostok</em>, which less than five seconds later retaliated with its 155mm cannons, even as its CIWS began shooting down the rockets. Dull vibrations could be felt as the <em>Kobushi</em>'s own guns began to fire as well, sending 120mm armour-piercing shells across space at the enemy ships.</p><p>Within seconds, the entire area of space was a boiling cauldron of ordnance as the Martian ships began raining entire clouds of shells and rockets against the two Earth ships, both of which retaliated in kind. The Russian cruiser quickly took several hits, but his armour held. A worryingly loud impact sound that echoed through the <em>Kobushi</em>'s interior was followed by another torrent of alarms.</p><p>"Nomura, evasive manoeuvres!" Maeyamada yelled, grabbing on to a railing as Minami threw the entire warship in a hard left turn to avoid several Martial rockets.</p><p>The ship vibrated as some of the rockets impacted on the armoured hull, dull impact sounds echoing through the interior. Holding on to a handrail as the ship shuddered violently, Ayaka began ordering repair teams throughout the ship to carry out damage control via her intercom system.</p><p>"Three of the Martian destroyers are down, one of their cruisers appears to be disengaging," Ayano reported loudly.</p><p><em>Vladivostok </em>had sustained numerous hits, but the sturdy old vessel was still fighting hard, his guns and rockets blasting away like some kind of grim spaceborne fireworks display. On the main screen, guided missiles launched from the <em>Kobushi</em>'s cells and arced towards the Martian vessels. One of the Martian cruisers fired its heavy guns in retaliation, the solid slugs flying through space at hypersonic speeds. Even with Minami's piloting, there was no way the <em>Kobushi</em> would get out of the way in time.</p><p>"We've got incoming!" Maeyamada yelled, "brace!"</p><p>Lights flickered and sparks flew as the entire vessel shook violently, the Martian shells blasting their way through the armoured plating. Even more alarms went off before the lights went out completely, momentarily replaced by green emergency lighting. A fire suddenly broke out at the server racks towards the rear of the command bridge, adding to the chaos. Maeyamada grabbed a fire extinguisher and darted towards it himself.</p><p>"Auxiliary power was hit, turret control was hit," Ayaka reported from a position sprawled on the floor next to the tactical table, "main reactor is still functional!"</p><p>"Turret two is down," Ayano yelled over her own multitasking as she fired off several more missiles, "turret control's trying to put out some fires!"</p><p>"We need reinforcements badly, Wada, how are the-" as he put out the fire with his extinguisher, Maeyamada turned to see his helmsman was lying slumped over her control panel, "someone get a medic!"</p><p>Rei got out of her seat and stumbled over to Minami's position, grabbing her arms and pulling her back into her seat. She had been largely protected by the reinforced space suit, but probably took a hard knock from the sudden impact.</p><p>"We're still unable to contact anyone, sir!" Wada exclaimed louder than Rei had ever heard her speak before. Taking a quick glance at the screen, Rei saw their Russian counterpart receive several hits to its superstructure, <em>Kapitan</em> Petrov's video feed abruptly cutting to static. She gritted her teeth and unstrapped Minami from her seat.</p><p>The doors to the bridge opened and three crewmen charged in, one tripping over a piece of ceiling panelling that had come loose in the impact and sprawling to the floor. The brief glimpse of the hallway outside of the bridge was not very encouraging, with the telltale flickering glow of a fire evident on the side leading to the elevator, and a pair of crewmen running past with a stretcher.</p><p>"Hijikata, take the helm," Maeyamada discarded his fire extinguisher, "two of you, get Nomura out of here. Inoue, get back on your station. Wada, keep trying the comms. We need-"</p><p>"Нет!" Petrov reappeared on the screen, coughing badly and wincing as he painfully pulled himself up to the camera. The <em>Vladivostok</em>'s bridge was in even worse shape than the <em>Kobushi</em>'s, and artificial gravity on the Russian ship appeared to have gone down, with debris of all sorts floating around the screen.</p><p>"Japanese ship, there is no time! you must escape and warn Earth, let them know what has happened here!" Petrov practically yelled, "do not let the Martians get away with this! <em>Vladivostok</em> will hold them off!"</p><p>Maeyamada stopped and gritted his teeth, slowly closing his eyes as he grimaced uncomfortably. Rei had never seen the captain in such obvious struggle before. She also had never seen her own friend knocked unconscious by an enemy attack before. She caught her breath and turned back to her screen as icons began to appear again.</p><p>The captain balled his fist and slammed it on the tactical table, a large crack running through the reinforced glass were a ceiling panel fell on it. He looked up at Petrov, who was holding a salute.</p><p>"Прощай," the Russian captain bade a final goodbye, with finality and resolute calm in his voice.</p><p>"Goodbye," Maeyamada said in Japanese, snapping to attention and saluting his Russian counterpart.</p><p>With that, Petrov closed the video link. Rei never saw the captain's tears finally escaping his eyes, because she was glued to her terminal.</p><p>Which was again awash with alerts.</p><p>Another jump signature had been detected.</p><p>"Captain, jump signature detected! It's something big!" Rei practically screamed, scrolling her screen frantically. Ayaka moved over to her station as best as she could, grimacing as she held on to her left leg.</p><p>"Hijikata, calculate an emergency jump to point 23," the captain moved symbols and information boxes on the cracked tactical table, somehow still keeping his cool, "Inoue, keep an eye on that jump signature. Everyone else, prepare for jump."</p><p>The crewmen loaded Minami onto a stretcher and began to carry her out of the room carefully. Hijikata, the backup helmsman, pulled down the overhead computer and began typing rapidly, inputting the coordinates for a faster-than-light jump out of here.</p><p>Then, the combat bridge was awash with light.</p><p>Blinking away the stars in her eyes, Rei looked at the main screen, holed by random black rectangles resulting from the external cameras having been disabled by the relentless attacks. She gasped. It is only human nature to fear the unknown, but in this case, what was known was even more frightening. Ayaka was shouting something, but Rei didn't hear her.</p><p>It was a massive warship, somehow larger than the flaming <em>Vladivostok</em>, possibly some 700 metres in length. Up to this day, she had only ever seen pictures and illustrations of the type of vessel, a typical Martian boxy rectangle with a low superstructure reminiscent of a submarine's conning tower, albeit at a monstrous scale. Scores of turrets and missile cells covered the reddish-brown vessel's surface, the colour intentionally reminiscent of the Red Planet itself. On its dorsal surface, what could only be described as a massive cannon was mounted, a devastating railgun almost the length of a Martian destroyer.</p><p>Everything seemed to come to a standstill the moment the <em>Olympus</em>-class battleship appeared on the battlefield, as though all parties involved were taking a moment to gaze in awe at the sheer power represented by the vessel.</p><p>A physical manifestation of Mars' resolve to violently claim the Solar System.</p><p>"I thought both of them never left Mars orbit," Ayano gasped.</p><p>"Apparently not," Wada replied, voice barely above a whisper.</p><p>In defiance of the show of Martian power, the heavily-damaged <em>Vladivostok</em> began firing everything they had at the beast. However, <em>Olympus</em> would not have it. With a brief glow of energy build-up, the massive dorsal railgun discharged a single shot, the ferromagnetic projectile accelerated by magnets to close to over 10 times the speed of sound.</p><p>Even the mighty <em>Vladivostok</em> could not withstand the sheer kinetic energy released by the projectile, which smashed its way straight through the stricken Russian warship like a laser knife through butter. In a singular huge explosion, <em>Vladivostok</em>, the decorated veteran of the Lunar War, was left adrift in two pieces. 320 Russian lives were gone with him.</p><p>"We're not going to be able to survive against that firepower. We have to leave before they recharge," Maeyamada spat urgently, "Hijikata, where's my jump?"</p><p>"The navigation computer is having some trouble calculating it, half the CPUs are fried!" The young officer yelled back, typing away frantically, "I'm trying to connect to the auxiliary."</p><p>"They're firing!" Ayano exclaimed, "CIWS is online!"</p><p>Rei could see it on her space radar as well; the Martian battleship had fired over thirty missiles at their vessel. At such a close range, just by looking at the main screen one could see the huge wave of anti-ship missiles headed for them, the telltale thruster glows marking them out amongst the stars. Explosions ensued as the <em>Kobushi</em>'s CIWS cannons began in vain to shoot down the missiles, taking them down one by one. But it was not nearly fast enough.</p><p>"Brace for impact!" Ayaka yelled, pushing Rei against her console and shielding her with her body.</p><p>The last thing Rei heard was a dull thud as the first anti-ship missile penetrated the armour plating somewhere on the ship, burrowing deep into the vulnerable recesses of the <em>Kobushi</em>.</p><p>A split second after that, the missile's nuclear warhead would go off.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Firstly, I would like to thank you for reading this story. It's my first attempt at an AU fic (or really any kind of fic at all), and I apologise for any gross mischaracterisations or such. I'd appreciate any feedback and comments, and I'd be happy to answer any questions at all if you've been confused at any point.</p><p>Secondly, I apologise if you've been thoroughly bored or confused by this extremely long space battle prologue sequence, as well as the military jargon used throughout. I have to admit that I'm a big fan of highly-detailed sci-fi war stuff like the Expanse Series, Gundam, and Aldnoah Zero, which I know doesn't have much intersect with the idol fandom. It's my sincere hope that this new concept and storyline could be a new perspective on - Nah, I just want to write about space battles and idols.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Onwards, Yumekaze</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After weeks of non-action, JDC <em>Yumekaze</em> is finally given a chance to contribute to the war effort...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Low Earth Orbit, above East Asia</strong> <strong><br/>
JDC-112 <em>Yumekaze</em></strong></p><p>One couldn't really tell that it was Christmas Eve based on the ambience in the <em>Yumekaze</em>'s mess hall, a typical utilitarian affair with rows of identical metal tables, identical metal chairs, and that ugly speckled blue plastic flooring that reminded of a hospital ward. The tables and chairs were magnetised to the floor to keep them in place should the artificial gravity fail. In one corner, next to the food dispenser machines, was a pathetic little plastic Christmas tree. A few stray strings of tinsel were taped along the wall, as well as a helpful sticker on the wall that proclaimed 'Merry Christmas! 2220' in rounded katakana. A war was going on, after all, so nobody had time for Christmas.</p><p>Though, if one was really honest, it was difficult to tell the <em>Yumekaze</em> was at war, either.</p><p>Junior Lieutenant Okamura Minami finished placing her present under the lonely little tree – which she herself had placed days ago – and clapped her hands silently at her own handiwork. It was debatable whether the corner actually looked better or worse with the single pink-wrapped present there. Minami smiled to herself and walked over to the corner of the mess hall where the pilots of the carrier's 2<sup>nd</sup> Fighter Wing often gathered. There was only one other person there at this time, though.</p><p>"Hime!" Minami exclaimed, sliding into the seat opposite her good friend and fellow fighter pilot, Junior Lieutenant Kiyono Momohime.</p><p>"Hey, Miimi," Momohime muttered, poking at her food with her fork.</p><p>They were serving some kind of 'Christmas Eve Special' meal today, with spaghetti and five grey meatballs. Minami immediately knew something was wrong – where was the typical energy of her wingman?</p><p>"Is something wrong? Where's everyone else?" Minami asked, leaning towards Momohime across the table. She had tied her hair up with pink ribbons, the only splash of colour in contrast to the generic dark green JSSDF flightsuits they both wore as their uniform, like the rest of the pilot corps.</p><p>"They're on Alert One," Momohime gave an insincere smile, "though since we're still stuck here in Low Orbit, I don't really see the point. Might as well just sit around and play the Martian Spy Game again, right?"</p><p>Minami wondered how the duty roster had slipped her mind. Alert One meant that the other two pilots of the wing were spending their time in their cockpits, waiting for the order to launch for a battle. Thus Alert One; they had to be ready to launch in One Minute. The <em>Yumekaze</em> had a full fighter complement of eight fighters and four fighter-bombers, of which two had to be ready to respond to anything at all times.</p><p>"Ah, you never know," Minami leaned back, knowing exactly where this conversation was going, "I mean, anything can happen…"</p><p>"No, Miimi, nothing is going to happen. We're somewhere over Okinawa now, so we're well within the protective range of the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean surface-to-space defence weapons. We have half the Space Self-Defence Force on one side and half the People's Liberation Army Space Force on the other," Momohime put down her fork and began ranting, increasingly irate, "nothing is going to happen. The war's been going on for three weeks and we've done literally nothing."</p><p>Minami nodded silently, smiling knowingly as her partner went on about their lack of action yet again. The slightly younger pilot was in one of those restless moods again. A good training round in the simulator should calm her down, perhaps. It was probably the drop off in excitement after her birthday the other day…</p><p>"I mean, why <em>are</em> we doing nothing? Why does <em>Asakaze</em> get to go out on every mission?" Momohime asked irritably to nobody in particular, "I heard Kitagawa just became a double-ace. When's that gonna be us?"</p><p>A pair of strong yet comforting arms suddenly surrounded Momohime from behind, hugging her firmly over her shoulders. Minami giggled.</p><p>"When the time is right, Momohime," the calming voice of Lieutenant-Commander Takase Kurumi, the <em>Yumekaze</em>'s Aerospace Wing Commander and their overall superior, spoke into her ear.</p><p>Unlike the pilots in their flightsuits, Kurumi wore the standard blue-and-grey digital camouflage uniform of the JSSDF, her sleeves neatly folded up to her upper arms. She let go of Momohime and got into the seat next to her. As the Wing Commander, Kurumi was in charge of all of the fighter pilots on board. It was a pretty impressive jump in grade for the young former combat pilot, but she had already proven her leadership skills during the Lunar War, and that same conflict had sadly left so many vacancies in the hierarchy.</p><p>Momohime groaned, rotating her head and trying but failing to stab one of the grey meatballs with her fork.</p><p>"When will that time be, ma'am?" She asked, rolling the meatball around, "I didn't sign up to sit around waiting. I'm here to kick some Martian ass. Why do <em>Asakaze</em> and <em>Tenshikaze</em> get to do everything while we've just been waiting here in low orbit?"</p><p>Kurumi gave her a wry smile. They had had this conversation before. Kurumi understood her subordinate's feelings perfectly. She had been in Momohime's position before, fresh out of the Sapporo Flight School and ready to take on the Solar System. New pilots often felt invincible, like the main character in their own story. It took a while, and like many things, came with experience. For now…</p><p>"It'll be soon. Remember that you're part of a team, and this entire ship is as well. I'm sure command has some reason for keeping us safe here for so long," Kurumi replied diplomatically.</p><p>"At this rate, by the time we deploy, the war's gonna be over," Momohime groaned again.</p><p>"Well, if the war's over by then, I guess it would be easier for us to skip right up to the Martian Presidential Palace…" Minami spoke up, grinning from ear to ear and pointedly extending her index fingers at her wingman.</p><p>"…And plant a missile right up Jorhann Sutler's ass," Momohime finished, breaking into a mischievous smile as she pointed back at Minami with both hands.</p><p>"Not if Yamazaki does it first," Minami pointed out, "did you hear about how she took down that Martian missile platform the other day?"</p><p>Minami grabbed Momohime's discarded fork and pulled it into the air, making whooshing sounds as she replicated the manoeuvre, dive-bombing her friend's uneaten food and trying hard to make explosion sounds through her own laughter. Momohime burst out laughing, and Kurumi couldn't help but join in as well, despite the growing nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach.</p><p>"That's Panda-san Power for you," Momohime tapped her fingers against the table, "but I'll do one better. Everyone will know about Purin Power then."</p><p>"<em>Asakaze</em> has nothing on us," Minami beamed, happy that her friend was somewhat back to her usual self.</p><p>Frantic footsteps echoed through the otherwise empty mess hall as a flustered-looking Lieutenant-Commander Ichioka Reina rushed towards the pilots' table, dressed in the same pixelated uniform as Kurumi and clutching a tablet computer in her hand. The Executive Officer (XO) of the <em>Yumekaze</em>, Reina was effectively the second-in-command of the vessel, placing her on par with Kurumi in the shipboard hierarchy; both reported directly to Captain Hoshibe, though Kurumi definitely had more independence to conduct her flight operations. Like most of this new generation of officers, Kurumi and Reina had first met at the Tokyo Space Warfare Academy, though Reina had been from a different specialisation.</p><p>And they had both fought through the Lunar War too, but in very different roles, with Kurumi on the frontlines in the cockpit and Reina on the bridge crew of the destroyer JDC <em>Takanawa</em>. Nonetheless, they had become good friends since joining the <em>Yumekaze</em>.</p><p>"Kurumin! I've been looking everywhere for you," Reina exclaimed, sweeping her shoulder-length hair out of her eye.</p><p>Kurumi understood this statement to mean Reina had checked her office and her bunk, which were both adjacent. She felt like giving her the benefit of the doubt and maybe believe Reina had also checked the hangar bay, but something in the back of her mind was telling her not to.</p><p>"We have a briefing with the captain and Vice-Admiral Miyazaki like right now," Reina breathlessly informed, leaning her hands against the table, "there's some kind of top-secret mission and we're moving out very, very soon. Make sure nobody else knows about this."</p><p>She looked away from Kurumi and noticed the other two pilots sitting there, eyes sparkling. Reina's hands flew to her mouth.</p><p>"Forget I said anything! You'll know about this secret moon mission soon! Anyway, let's go!" With that, she spun on her heel and quickly marched off towards the mess hall door.</p><p>"What did I say, hmm?" Kurumi gave a half smile, patted Momohime on the back and stood to follow her peer.</p>
<hr/><p>As the pair approached the conference room, they bumped into a familiar face walking powerfully in the opposite direction, dressed in the same uniform as them. The number of bars on her shoulders had definitely increased since they last met her.</p><p>"Captain Kanazawa," Reina greeted with a salute.</p><p>Captain Kanazawa Tomoko returned the salute curtly. She commanded the JDC <em>Ume</em>, one of the JSSDF's <em>Kiku</em>-class general-purpose space warfare destroyers, and one of the most famous and highly-decorated Japanese warships from the First Lunar War.</p><p>"Ichioka, Takase," Kanazawa greeted them, "it's really been a while, huh?"</p><p>"We last met at that parade in Singapore, didn't we?" Takase asked, "when did you come aboard, ma'am?"</p><p>"Since minutes ago, I just got here from the Tokyo Spacetree," Kanazawa replied frankly, as she was prone to, "I was on leave after Karin's promotion ceremony when they suddenly activated the <em>Ume</em>. Must be something really important."</p><p>Kurumi knocked on the door twice and opened it.</p><p>"Please excuse us," Kanazawa led the way, as the most senior in the group.</p><p>Captain Hoshibe was waiting for them at the head of the conference table, a slender, aging man with a round face, greying hair, and a pair of rectangular computerised glasses which glowed with information that he was reading through. Next to Captain Hoshibe was 1<sup>st</sup> Lieutenant Saito, the commander of the platoon of Ground Self-Defence Force troopers on board the <em>Yumekaze.</em> Saito was an almost stereotypical marine, big and muscular with close-cropped hair and a square face, his green and brown camouflage GSDF uniform standing out amongst the SSDF personnel. Most of the other important members of the ship's crew, like the Chief Engineer, were also seated in the room.</p><p>On one of the wall mounted video screens, Vice-Admiral Miyazaki Yuka was visible sitting behind her desk, transmitting from her office in Tokyo. The commander of the JSSDF's 3<sup>rd</sup> Orbital Squadron, Miyazaki had commanded the JDC <em>Ume</em> herself through the Lunar War, and handpicked Kanazawa to take her place in command of that ship, so perhaps it was not a coincidence that the <em>Ume</em> had been selected for this mission. The three newcomers saluted the Vice-Admiral.</p><p>Shutting off his data-glasses with left hand, Hoshibe stood and shook Kanazawa's hand.</p><p>"Glad to have you and the <em>Ume</em> on this mission, Kanazawa, I'd accept no less than someone of your calibre," he nodded as he released his hand from her very firm handshake.</p><p>"Same to you, Hoshibe," Kanazawa nodded back.</p><p>"It's great to see you again, Kanazawa," Miyazaki addressed her friend formally, her voice slightly distorted due to the transmission, "sorry to call on your ship at such short notice, but this is a real emergency. Hoshibe?"</p><p>"Thank you, ma'am," Hoshibe began shifting information from his glasses to the table with some hand gestures.</p><p>As Kanazawa, Reina and Kurumi took their seats, the table transformed from a seemingly wooden surface into a digital screen. The surface soon displayed a map of the far side of the moon, some large-scale strategic maps of the solar system, and various diagrams, photographs, and text boxes.</p><p>"I'll get to the point," Miyazaki spoke up from the wall-screen, "twelve hours ago, the Chinese lost contact with their entire PLASF <em>Guangdong</em> carrier battle group in far-Lunar orbit. That was five ships, gone. Six hours later, LUTO* also lost all contact with the Gateway Tereshkova spaceport on the far side of the moon."</p><p>Kurumi pressed her fingers together. This could only mean one thing.</p><p>"The UN+ Security Council believes that Mars has managed to land ground troops on the Moon. In other words," Miyazaki gestured to Hoshibe.</p><p>"The Martians have invaded the Moon," Hoshibe finished, tapping his finger against the table and zooming in on a satellite photograph of the Gateway Tereshkova spaceport, "this was the last image of the spaceport we received before the Martians started shooting down our reconnaissance satellites."</p><p>"Are those landing craft?" Saito asked, pointing at barely-visible boxy shapes arrayed on the spaceport's expansive landing strip.</p><p>"I'll hazard a guess and say yes," Hoshibe replied, "they're likely using the spaceport to bring in a full invasion army. This is the closest they've been to Earth since the First Lunar War, and we need to stop them now."</p><p>"Indeed," Miyazaki nodded in that distinctive way, "the UN+ Security Council has requested that Japan assist in this matter. The JDC <em>Yumekaze</em> and JDC <em>Ume</em> will move in to the area. Then, the JDC <em>Yumekaze</em>'s marines will carry out a scouting mission to determine the size of the enemy force."</p><p>Saito scoffed, folding his arms. His folded uniform sleeves looked like they were almost starting to constrict the bloodflow to his musclebound arms.</p><p>"Two ships and a platoon of marines against a full Martian invasion force?" He grunted.</p><p>"Unfortunately, this is all we can muster for now. Time is of the essence, before the Martians dig in further or start to move the heavy equipment in," Hoshibe explained, "the Koreans will provide ground reinforcements once you're finished your reconnaissance."</p><p>Kanazawa rubbed her chin with one hand, looking at the strategic map.</p><p>"Will we have any support in space? I don't like these odds," she asked bluntly, pointing at the projected strength of the Martian force, which was a rough number 'between 3 and 20'.</p><p>"And this shit intelligence," Saito muttered under his breath.</p><p>"We are attempting to get more reinforcements from the Americans. They should be able to reinforce us once we're engaged, if things go according to plan," Hoshibe hesitantly replied, pointing at a cluster of ships marked by the American flag.</p><p>Nobody was really convinced by his statement, perhaps not even himself. The US Space Force was very heavily engaged in defending their asteroid belt colonies, so it would be a miracle if they could spare any vessels at all.</p><p>Kurumi frowned. The odds were really stacked against them – this was clearly a counterattack out of desperation. Everyone in the room knew it, but at the same time, they couldn't let this nut become even harder to crack as the Martians brought more forces in. She had full faith in her pilots' skills, but this would not be an easy fight, especially for her batch of fresh pilots.</p><p>"Saito, get your troops prepared for insertion," Hoshibe abruptly stood up as the meeting ended, interrupting Kurumi's train of thought, "XO, prepare the ship for jump. The operation begins within the hour. Takase, brief your pilots. We will need to attain aerospace superiority and provide air support for Saito's troops. All tactical information will be sent to your tablets now."</p><p>
  <em>We need to get aerospace superiority with ten fighters against… God knows how many Dusters?</em>
</p><p>Kurumi bit her tongue and gave an affirmative. Reina immediately began looking through her tablet at the information being sent her way, frowning in concentration, while Kurumi began mentally formulating the best strategy to carry out aerospace reconnaissance and support the ground force's insertion. She'd been through suicide missions before - <em>but nobody actually plans to carry out a suicide mission</em>.</p><p>"Good hunting, <em>Yumekaze</em> and <em>Ume</em>," Miyazaki saluted them from Earth.</p><p>"And please stay safe."</p>
<hr/><p>Reina pushed open the door to the bridge and entered the large space, buried deep within the carrier's hull for protection. The floor-to-ceiling screens provided an exquisite view of the carrier's foredeck with the blue rim of Mother Earth as the backdrop. A soft bluish light illuminated the entire room, the colour helping the crews to focus on their computer terminals.</p><p>The third <em>Asakaze</em>-class carrier, the <em>Yumekaze</em> was newest space carrier built by Japan, built with upgraded technologies introduced after lessons learned from the Lunar War. <em>Yumekaze</em> and her sisters were superficially similar, but each had a different design philosophy. Where <em>Asakaze</em> was a pure carrier and <em>Tenshikaze</em> experimented with greater offensive armament at the expense of fighter-carrying capability, <em>Yumekaze</em> was designed as an all-rounder, with a balance between both.</p><p>"Gateway, gateway, Tereshkova Gateway…" Reina muttered to herself as she took up her position at the tactical table in the middle of the bridge, placing her combat space suit's helmet on the table, "Shiori, how's our calculations looking?"</p><p>"Ready to jump on command, ma'am," the <em>Yumekaze</em>'s chief navigator, Lieutenant Nishida Shiori, gave a thumbs up from the left side of the room. The Kyoto native oversaw a three-man team, crowded around the navigation table and terminals in the left corner. They were responsible for knowing the <em>Yumekaze</em>'s spatial position, FTL jumps, and plotting the ship's movement.</p><p>"Good," Reina replied, putting on her own computerised glasses, which provided some augmented reality functions to provide enhanced combat information, "we launch upon the captain's order. Helm, how are our thrusters?"</p><p>"Thrusters already spinning up, ma'am", Lieutenant Eguchi Saya reported. Seated in the middle seat of the ship's helm station at the very front of the bridge, Saya was in charge of the team that actually piloted the <em>Yumekaze</em>, controlling propulsion and steering in coordination with Shiori's navigation team.</p><p>The ever-present background hum of the powerful Kawasaki rocket engines that propelled the warship were indeed slowly increasing in volume, a sound that quickly merged into the background noise and was easily forgettable.</p><p>"We have to be prepared for anything, there's a high chance we'll be attacked the moment we finish our jump," Reina informed everyone, moving symbols on the tactical table's screen, "scanners, keep your eyes peeled the moment we emerge on the other side."</p><p>The scan officer gave an affirmative reply from his station to the left of the helm. The heavy door to the bridge suddenly swung open and Captain Hoshibe entered the room briskly, tablet computer in hand.</p><p>"Captain on deck!" Lieutenant Shimakura Rika turned to face the man and saluted. The Fire Control officer, Rika was in charge of the small department of people responsible for <em>Yumekaze</em>'s weapons, packed in computer stations that occupied the entire right side of the room.</p><p>Everyone else echoed the movement unless they were in the middle of something crucial, saluting the man as he entered.</p><p>"As you were," Hoshibe smartly returned the salute, moving next to Reina on the tactical table and putting down his tablet, "what's our status?"</p><p>"Sir, we're prepared to jump on your command," Reina reported, "data link with <em>Ume</em> is secured. All crew chiefs have already been briefed. No new intelligence updates from Tokyo."</p><p>"There isn't much intelligence down in Tokyo this afternoon, I'll have to admit," Hoshibe joked darkly, "we could be jumping right into a hornet's nest here."</p><p>The career officer pulled back from the table and picked up the speaker for the shipwide intercom system. Hoshibe cleared his throat. He looked around the room, at the still-young faces of most of his crew, most having joined the JSSDF after the First Lunar War to replace the people that had been lost back then. It was a vicious cycle, one which mankind had been locked in since the dawn of time.</p><p>He pulled the intercom's speaker up to his mouth, pressing the button resolutely.</p><p>"Brave crew of the JDC-112, <em>Yumekaze</em>, fellow comrades of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces, this is your captain speaking. You have already been briefed by your immediate superiors on what is to come. This ship, and our comrades on the JDC <em>Ume</em>, have been tasked with an emergency mission of utmost importance. The enemy is at our door, and they will not stop there unless we take action now."</p><p>
  <em>Saito locked the plating on the legs of his Type-99 Space Combat Powered Armour suit, the Yumekaze's hangar bay echoing with the noise of machinery as the ship's hangar crew prepared the dropships in the background. Sergeant Hirai Miyo, the commander of the 1<sup>st</sup> squad, was loading rifle magazines with her troops towards the left. None of them had ever seen real combat before, just peacetime training, and simulations – Saito included. At some level, he was also nervous about what was coming.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But they had a job to do. There would be time to be worried later.</em>
</p><p>"The odds are stacked against us. There is a good chance that our two ships may be fighting alone out there, beyond the moon. But we are not alone – we have each other. I am certain everyone will do their part, for the sake of everyone back home. I admit that there is a high chance some may not go back to that home. But it is our job to ensure that everyone else still has a place to go home to."</p><p>
  <em>Kurumi looked at the young pilots assembled before her in the briefing room. A high-G triple-S Roll in the cockpit of a Mitsubishi F/S-97 was nothing, but this… was difficult. She memorised each face closely, knowing that this may well be one of the last times she would see some of them. Higashida from Nagasaki. Kokoro from Saitama. Nakasone from Tokyo. Yuhane from Aichi. Umemoto from Tochigi. Minami from Osaka. Momohime from Tokyo…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It really was easier being on the other side of the briefing room.</em>
</p><p>"With this ship, the <em>Yumekaze</em>, we go forth like a roaring wind, carrying the dreams of our people. Not just the Japanese people, but all the people of Earth. We will protect our home from these invaders, and we will not fail in our duty. Captain Hoshibe, out."</p><p>Hoshibe exhaled sharply, slowly putting down the speaker. Reina pressed her hands together silently in approval, giving him a small smile and raising her eyebrows. He nodded curtly and replaced the intercom speaker on its holder.</p><p>"XO, take us out," Hoshibe ordered firmly, pointing towards the moon on the main screens.</p><p>"All crews, stand by for jump," Reina picked up the speaker and ordered through the shipwide intercom system. A low siren began sounding throughout the ship, signalling the crew to prepare themselves.</p><p>"Lieutenant Nishida," Reina pointed at Shiori, "commence jump now."</p><p>Shiori gave an affirmative response and began giving her team commands. A shudder ran through the entire vessel as the Jump Drives activated, a low whine echoing its way through the ship's decks, while the main screens deactivated, the view of Earth replaced by a black screen with an urgent crimson timer that counted down thirty seconds.</p><p>For just a moment, Reina wondered if that was the last time she would see the Earth.</p><p>"Once we emerge, we'll have to assume the enemy will jam our communications," Hoshibe reminded Reina, "<em>Ume</em> will be the primary combatant if we engage any enemy warships. We'll hang back and provide fighter cover, as well as support fire."</p><p>"Commencing jump in five!"</p><p>"And don't worry. We'll make it home," Hoshibe maintained his cool confidence, giving Reina a reassuring smile. She realised he had probably noticed her brief flash of doubt a moment earlier.</p><p>"Four!"</p><p>Reina swallowed her saliva and took a deep breath. There was a strange but harmless sensation every time one jumped through space-time, as though there was a sharp pull on the inside of one's stomach. Medical science still had no answer to this phenomenon, which at its very worst could lead to vomiting.</p><p>"Three!"</p><p>By instinct, the executive officer gripped the edge of the table tightly, until her knuckles turned white. For the duration of the jump, which could last anywhere between three to five seconds, the artificial gravity could stop working. Messing with the space-time continuum was still a relatively new science, and nobody was sure why certain things worked, or failed, in certain ways.</p><p>"Two!"</p><p>Or was she gripping the table because she was utterly terrified of what they would face on the other side of the moon?</p><p>"One!"</p><p>The entire vessel experienced a hard jerk that sent anything light and not properly secured flying like Hoshibe's tablet, which he grabbed just in time. Over by fire control, Rika stumbled badly before she grabbed on to the back of one of her subordinates' seat.</p><p>From an observer's point of view, the <em>Yumekaze</em> and the <em>Ume</em> both appeared to stretch forward slightly.</p><p>Then, in a blinding flash of light, the ships disappeared.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*Lunar Treaty Organisation</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. It Begins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p><em>Yumekaze</em> completes its jump to the far side of the Moon on its mission to liberate the Gateway Tereshkova spaceport. As the enemy hive is stirred up, the battle begins...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Far Side of the Moon<br/>
JDC-112 <em>Yumekaze</em></strong>
</p><p>Rika exhaled as the ship finished its jump 2.5 seconds later, the painful sensation in her stomach abruptly disappearing. One by one, the main screens turned back on automatically, some of them momentarily showing static as the electromagnetic wave emitted by the ship when it jumped affected its own systems. The young officer found herself instinctively sweeping over her team's passive radar screens and scopes for anything out of the ordinary. Indeed, she and her fellow crewmates only knew ordinary – this was their first combat mission, after all.</p><p>And that worried her.</p><p>Someone from the helm station gasped. As the main screen fully came online, the last stubborn cell in the corner finally finishing its reboot cycle, a breathtaking sight came into view. Replacing the Earth's blue rim was the pearl-white horizon of the far side of the moon, Earth's largest natural satellite, occupying the length of the bottom of the screen. Beyond the moon stretched that familiar starfield, on which the JDS <em>Ume</em> was superimposed in her martial glory. It was almost like looking at a postcard, or a page from the 2221 JSSDF Annual Calendar.</p><p>Contrary to the tension in the bridge, the image almost portrayed sheer calm, a sight that had not changed for billions of years before humanity thrust itself into space. There were no alarms or missile locks, and no swarms of angry Martian ships waiting to pounce the moment the Japanese ships materialised in the sector. For just a moment, Rika almost felt… Safe.</p><p>"Scope's empty," the scan officer reported, slight confusion in his voice.</p><p>Reina walked forward and stared at the main screen, as though trying to pick out the Martian ships from amongst the myriad stars arrayed before them.</p><p>"We're getting a lot of communications interference," the communications officer called out from his station, right behind Rika's fire control department.</p><p>"It's consistent with Martian jamming signatures," the man reported in a slight northern Tohoku accent, pressing his headset to his ear with one hand.</p><p>Captain Hoshibe moved himself briskly over to the communications station and looked at the screen momentarily, before turning back to the main screens, putting his hands against his hips and maintaining a stony expression.</p><p>"Make no mistake, people, they're out there," Captain Hoshibe swept his gaze over the main screens suspiciously, "Fire Control, be ready for anything."</p><p>Rika gave an affirmative response and echoed the command to her six-person team. The <em>Yumekaze</em> was equipped with over 140 multipurpose missile cells, eight 120-milimeter cannons, six retractable anti-surface rocket pods, and sixteen CIWS units. Though the systems were AI-assisted and partly computer controlled, human oversight and control was still necessary to avoid the danger of enemy hacking and system failures. Ultimately, while the computer could do all the aiming, the one pulling the trigger was always a human.</p><p>A window opened up on the main screen and Lieutenant Saito appeared on it, fully suited in his bulky, GSDF-green Type-99 Space Combat Powered Armour. He was only missing the helmet, which he carried under one arm. In the background, the rest of his platoon could be seen mustering and helping the <em>Yumekaze</em>'s deck crew to move their own equipment onto the dropships.</p><p>"Sir, my main force will be ready in ten minutes. The Kappa just took off," Saito reported from the hangar bay, his Type- 85 automatic rifle slung across his chest, spare magazines stuffed into easy-access pouches attached to his armour's abdomen area.</p><p>"Good to hear," Hoshibe replied, nodding, "yeah, I see them."</p><p>On the main screen, two man-sized shapes darted across the carrier's flight deck in flight, propelled by blue-glowing thrusters from jetpacks on their backs. Members of the single team of the JSSDF's Kappa Special Forces on board the <em>Yumekaze</em>, the elite commandos were equipped with cutting-edge powered armour suits capable of flight through space, stealth, and all sorts of exciting abilities. The mysterious special forces soldiers were legendary, with high secrecy surrounding their exploits. With the sheer hype surrounding them, they were almost like superheroes.</p><p>"As per the plan, we'll hit the ground hard and secure what we think are their anti-aircraft positions on the central landing strip," the GSDF officer reiterated to Hoshibe, "then the Koreans will come in."</p><p>The last part sounded both like a statement and a question, but Rika wasn't paying attention. She watched the pair of commandos bank and dive out of sight with slight jealousy. The Fire Control officer knew she didn't have what it took to become a Kappa – the notoriously tough training program churned out at most two or three operators a year – but she would literally kill to be able to fly like that, at least once. She knew it was different from being on the basic EVA manoeuvring thruster packs. The speed and agility those classified armour suits provided was on a whole different level.</p><p>"That's right," Hoshibe nodded, "though be ready for anything. With this jamming, we haven't been able to contact the Koreans. But we're working on it."</p><p>
  <em>Ah, to fly in open space in a top-secret classified armour suit…</em>
</p><p>"Detecting two <em>Argyre</em>-class gunships approaching from 0145 by positive 173," the scan officer reported urgently, tapping away at his terminal. Rika snapped her attention back to her subordinates' screens. If the Martian vessels were not in range yet, it would take a few seconds for the targeting computers to register the targets.</p><p>"Roger that, two Martian gunships approaching our position," Reina echoed, watching as the red-tinged holograms automatically appeared on the tactical table's display, a crimson line connecting them to the hologram of the <em>Yumekaze</em>, displaying the exact distance between the ships. Hoshibe let out an audible 'tsk', folding his arms.</p><p>The Martians were being cautious today, which made the situation all the more disconcerting. Shaped somewhat like giant, squarish beetles, the small, 70-metre long <em>Argyre-</em>class ships were typically used for scouting and orbital patrol duties. Their strongest weapons were their medium anti-fighter guided missiles, which could potentially cause some damage to the two Japanese warships, if they were very, very lucky. Realistically, this was hardly a threat for either the <em>Yumekaze</em> or the <em>Ume</em>, but this far from Martian territory, such gunships were rarely alone.</p><p>It was elementary tactics; if there were scouts lurking around, there would be a main force somewhere nearby.</p><p>"XO, sound general quarters," Hoshibe narrowed his eyes at the screen, "looks like it's about to begin."</p><p>Reina grabbed the shipwide intercom system and gave the command for general quarters, hitting the alarm on her control panel. Notifications began to appear on the Fire Control team's computers as the gunners, technicians, ammunition loaders, and dozens of other personnel that were unseen parts of their extended team began to report in. One by one, Rika's Fire Control officers reported Condition Status Green to her.</p><p>"Bridge to Wing Commander," Hoshibe opened a communications screen to the Flight Control Room overlooking the carrier's flight deck.</p><p>Busy with the tactical board in that room, Kurumi didn't notice Hoshibe's call for a moment until one of her aerospace control officers called her attention to the communications screen. Unlike the bridge, the Flight Control Room had physical windows to space, visible behind Kurumi as she turned to face the camera. Two of the <em>Yumekaze</em>'s sleek Mitsubishi F/S-97 space fighters were already sitting on the electromagnetic catapults, ready to launch on a moment's notice.</p><p>Rika wouldn't mind flying in one of those fighter planes either.</p><p>"Wing Commander, deploy combat patrol now," the captain ordered, "we're all going to be very busy soon."</p>
<hr/><p>Eyes closed, deep breaths. The tall junior officer sat cross-legged on the floor of the ready room, using her extensive karate training to help to control her breathing. She ran through every scenario she could recall from training in her mind, from the most basic to the most advanced, to the crazy things that their fellow combat pilots were developing on-the-fly out there on the front lines. They had been training for this very eventuality, and here it was.</p><p>As the flight leader, Lieutenant Maeda Kokoro had the unenviable position of being in charge of the four-fighter element, having to coordinate their actions while also being a part of the fight. It was a fifth dimension tacked on to the already four-dimensional realm of being a spaceborne combat pilot, but she was more than capable of the role. In peacetime training, at least.</p><p>Her eyebrow twitched as her concentration was broken. Again.</p><p>"…finally happens and she sends out Umemoto?" Momohime complained at the other side of the room, "come on, I smashed all of their scores in the simulator. I mean, we."</p><p>Breathing exercises. Don't let these external thoughts enter your mind. Formations, formations…</p><p>"I can't believe Umemoto was the first one to be sent out," the youngest pilot in the room continued, "you guys have no idea how frustrated I am right now! I'm going crazy!"</p><p>"Yeah, so am I," Kokoro raised her voice, without moving from her position or opening her eyes, "if you don't shut up about Umemoto!"</p><p>"What? I have a right to complain!" Momohime stood up from where she was sitting, "we're finally given a chance to do something and she decides to send up Umemoto. U-me-mo-to. I'd maybe be less pissed if it was Higashida, maybe, but ma'am decided to send out Miss Can't-Even-Lock-On-To-A-Training Drone."</p><p>Kokoro finally opened her eyes, exhaling sharply in exasperation. Momohime's rivalry with 1<sup>st</sup> Flight's pilot was no secret, but right now it was really getting on Kokoro's nerves. Perhaps it was her way of defusing her own tension, but Momohime's ranting about Umemoto was really dampening the mood of the room. Yuhane had plugged in her earphones and sat in a corner seat, and Minami was just staring out of the window wistfully, playing with her ribbons. Some of the flight control team who had been resting in the room eventually left as Momohime's rant progressed.</p><p>Having everyone in a bad mood wouldn't be good if they too were suddenly activated.</p><p>"I don't really care what your problem with Junko is," Kokoro shot back from her position just below the electronic board used to brief the pilots on their upcoming missions, "just wait for the Lieutenant-Commander to give us our orders and stop disturbing everyone else. We need to be ready when it's time."</p><p>"That's exactly it, she isn't giving us our orders!" Momohime almost yelled back, "now is the right time, but she isn't sending out the right people!"</p><p>Kokoro barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. This wasn't even about Umemoto. It was just the same rant about not getting enough action disguised as a complaint about their counterpart. Though, Kokoro did admit that Umemoto was one of the weaker pilots amongst the <em>Yumekaze</em>'s stellar fighter wing.</p><p>"If you're not going to listen to me as a friend, then I'll have to order you to quiet down," Kokoro resorted to the distasteful act of pulling rank, "and I don't want to do that. So just wait."</p><p>"I don't want to wait," the more hotheaded pilot quickly replied defiantly.</p><p>"Get a hold of yourself," Kokoro stood up suddenly with rapid agility, staring daggers at her junior, "you're a commissioned officer of the JSDF. We're not cadets anymore."</p><p>Momohime breathed heavily. Finally, with a loud exhalation, she sat back down, folding her arms. Though Kokoro had been one batch earlier than the rest of the flight, they had all gotten acquainted back at the Sapporo Flight Academy. Back then, they often took the same train between their cadet housing and the Academy, with both facilities located in different bases.</p><p>"Thank you," the flight leader said softly, hopefully ending the fight.</p><p>Suddenly, Minami yelped at the window, which opened to give a clear view of the flight deck. The other two fighters of the 1<sup>st</sup> Flight were visible being moved into position for launch from the electromagnetic catapults. Hearing Minami's call, Yuhane tore her earphones out in one quick motion, and everyone turned to look as small pinpoints of light erupted in the distance, two missiles arcing out of the JDC <em>Ume</em>'s foredeck missile cells and soaring towards the distance.</p>
<hr/><p>"<em>Ume</em> is engaging," Rika reported from her station, the data link between the ships enabling her to see what the other ship was doing as well, to better coordinate their actions during a pitched battle, "we're just barely within their maximum range."</p><p>Reina nodded silently inside her combat space suit's helmet as Rika reported on their allied ship's action. Hoshibe cracked his knuckles, looking closely at the hologram on the tactical table. <em>Ume</em>'s missiles were represented by green holograms, moving slowly towards the enemy ships' red holograms. A small alarm went off at Rika's station. As a former weapons officer herself back during the First Lunar War, Reina knew exactly what this alarm signalled, though she still looked at Rika for confirmation.</p><p>"One of the enemy gunships has fired a missile," Rika called out with some urgency. A single medium missile would not cause much damage, but better to be safe than sorry. Rika was bent over one of her subordinates' seats, looking over the man's screen.</p><p>"Will <em>Ume </em>engage it?" Hoshibe took the words out of Reina's mouth.</p><p>"Stand by, sir, one Martian gunship destroyed," the Fire Control officer reported curtly, "and… Second ship destroyed. <em>Ume</em> is firing counter-missiles."</p><p>Each Japanese anti-ship missile was more than enough to take down such weak enemies. On the screen, the destroyer fired a second pair of small missiles, the two pinpricks of light rapidly disappearing from sight. Ten seconds later, Rika reported that the enemy's single missile had been neutralised.</p><p>And with that brief opening engagement, the <em>Yumekaze</em> and <em>Ume </em>were at war. This easy early victory left nothing but a knot in Reina's stomach. Like her commanding officer in the first war had once told her – warfare is not shogi. The opening moves rarely matter.</p><p>This was only the beginning.</p><p>As Reina looked at the screen, the Gateway Tereshkova spaceport complex was visible in the distance on the surface of the moon. The lights of the sprawling complex were still on, meaning someone was home – though definitely not the original occupants. Built partially into a large crater, the surface of the moon was marked by an expansive patchwork of huge landing pads, landing strips, and mooring towers for all types of cargo transports and bulk freighters. A substantial Helium-3 refinery was also a part of the complex, and would very likely have been seized by the energy-hungry Martians.</p><p>"Captain, I've got movement in the direction of the spaceport," the scan officer reported, "we have about a dozen small contacts. Ground interference is too strong, I can't identify them."</p><p>"Surface-to-Space missiles?" Reina asked, shaking her head to move her hair out of her face and looking at Hoshibe in concern.</p><p>"Possible, but not likely," Hoshibe grimly pursed his lips and pointed to the tactical table, "we're out of range of their V-7s. What we're looking at are fighters."</p><p>Reina was somehow not surprised that her captain had the enemy's missile ranges memorised, and nodded silently. Captain Hoshibe turned to the main screen.</p><p>"Wing Commander, we have incoming enemy fighters," Hoshibe addressed Kurumi on the screen, "execute as you may. Good hunting."</p><p>Kurumi gave a positive response and began giving commands on her end, gesturing wildly and moving around a lot. As Reina took her attention off her friend and looked at the portion of the flight deck on the main screen, the two fighters that had been waiting on the flight deck rocketed down the electromagnetic rails and were released into space at combat speed. The entire action reminded of atmospheric fighters taking off, but had an entirely different purpose. Without the need for wings to catch the air here in space, the fighters were accelerated to help them reach combat velocities without wasting precious fuel.</p><p>Both fighters activated their blue thrusters as they banked away towards their counterparts, which had been circling both Japanese ships in a wide patrol for the past fifteen minutes. Returning her gaze to the tactical table, the tiny hologram representing the flight of four fighters showed them moving towards the larger group of still-undefined enemy contacts. It was a minor comfort that it was a fact Earth fighters were far superior to those used by the Martians – though in the end, it all came down to the individual pilot's skill, Kurumi had told her once.</p><p>Suddenly, a beeping sound came from Reina's tablet computer. One of the lookouts had spotted a green flare being launched from the surface of the moon. With the Martians jamming communications and perhaps even monitoring all signals, it was safer to default to such low-tech signalling means.</p><p>"Captain, signal verified," Reina reported, "the landing site had been secured."</p><p>"We may commence drop operations."</p>
<hr/><p>There was momentary darkness as the door closed behind Lieutenant Saito, before the internal lights of the Komatsu Type-10 armoured personnel carrier (APC) turned on, bathing its occupants in dull green-tinged light. Corporal Kobayashi Honoka looked around through the armoured visor of her helmet, seeing the other seven members of her squad crammed into the tight space, their bulky Type-99 powered armour, other equipment, and weapons not helping things. Saito managed to squeeze his way to the seat towards the front of the compartment, muttering an apology as he pushed past Lance Corporal Maeda Kojiro.</p><p>Inside of their face-obscuring helmets, which were fully sealed and pressurised, a holographic heads-up display provided vital information to the soldier wearing the suit. The faces of each member of the squad were visible along the left side, enabling face-to-face communication. Shortly after, Saito and Staff Sergeant Ikeda also appeared as they joined the squad's data network. Ikeda was the platoon sergeant, Saito's second-in-command, and was riding in 3<sup>rd</sup> Squad's APC.</p><p>"Right, good afternoon, soldiers," Saito's voice came through with some static via the helmet's speakers, "hope everyone's ready to kick these Dusters off our Moon. They've already got two moons, wonder why they felt they needed one more."</p><p>Nobody laughed at the officer's poor attempt at a joke.</p><p>"We'll smash the whole area, but you all watch each other's backs," Saito continued without skipping a beat, "I want everyone to get back safely. Our objective is just to take out the anti-aerospace defences on that landing strip. Once that's done, the Koreans will roll in and we can sit back and relax while they win this thing."</p><p>"Just like 2187 all over again," someone commented sarcastically, referencing the disastrous Second Alaskan War of 2187.</p><p>Saito barely smiled at the statement, the edge of his mouth moving ever so slightly. Though they had healed over time, Japanese-Korean relations had plummeted right after that war, for various reasons.</p><p>"Yeah, whatever. We'll hit the ground running and smash through their defensive line, then cut straight for those guns," the young officer briefed, as a terrain map appeared on all of the soldiers' displays. Honoka was still mildly surprised by the amount of red 'enemy' icons placed all over the map, even though Miyo had already briefed them on the dire situation earlier.</p><p>"We go in quick and clean, we'll bypass enemy strongpoints and hit the designated targets only," Ikeda spoke up in a gruff Kansai accent.</p><p>The oldest and most experienced non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the platoon, Ikeda was a veteran of the First Lunar War, the only one in the platoon. He had already fought on this white-dusted rock before, particularly at the brutal urban and cave fighting of the Battle of Kaguya City. Honoka felt that the Kobe native struck a perfect balance between his roles as disciplinarian, advisor, and senior.</p><p>"Vehicle crews, keep close but maintain tactical distancing. Try not to get isolated, we have no idea what anti-armour capabilities they may have," the platoon sergeant continued. Honoka remembered being intensely interested in the man's robotic arm prosthetic, especially after he showed them all the cool things he could do with it. It was only after she had met more wounded veterans during a fundraising event in Hawaii a few months ago did she realise the myriad difficulties Ikeda must face in his ordinary life after his combat ordeal.</p><p>And now they were all heading into the same sort of situation.</p><p>A low whine could be heard through the armoured shell of the APC as the ShinMaywa US-25 Umidori dropships began to power up their engines. Workhorses of the JSSDF, the utilitarian short-range VTOL aerospacecraft were capable of carrying medium loads as well as dismounted troops. They were also armed to provide light air support for ground troops, and to clear landing zones of enemies. For the current mission, the APCs occupied the entire cargo bay of the Umidoris, and would be dropped out of the rear ramp directly onto the lunar surface. It was a manoeuvre they had trained for dozens of times.</p><p>Turning back into the troop compartment from his seat facing towards the front, the APC's commander reminded all of the troops to check their safety harnesses again. Their armour was enough to protect them from bullets and explosions, but it wouldn't be very good to potentially get injured because they didn't wear a seatbelt during a collision. The impact from the APC hitting the lunar surface would also be very strong.</p><p>"The pilot says we're over the drop zone, we're launching now," Sergeant Hirai Miyo, Honoka's squad leader, informed everyone. Honoka gripped the handguard of her scoped Type-85 automatic rifle tightly, both to keep it from falling over and because of nerves. Excellent scores back in basic training meant she was the squad's designated marksman.</p><p>Honoka found her heart rate pounding in her chest. She admitted to herself that she was terrified. There were no windows on the APC, and the vehicle was inside of the Umidori anyway, so there was no way to see what was going on outside. Once the Umidori exited the <em>Yumekaze</em> and entered space, there would be no way to hear anything either. Crammed in this box within a rocket-propelled box, if a Martian missile came right for them, there would be no escape. They wouldn't even know it was coming either.</p><p>A howling sound was just barely audible for a few moments as the atmosphere was drained from the well deck's airlock. Then, with a sharp jerk that shook the cramped occupants of the APC, the dropship was released into space.</p><p>
  <em>So it begins.</em>
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